


Tea

by Princesszellie



Series: Prompts and Drabbles [6]
Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Other, Rituals, tea is important
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-19
Updated: 2015-02-19
Packaged: 2018-03-13 17:19:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3389867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Princesszellie/pseuds/Princesszellie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a drop gone bad Chuck finds comfort in a ritual from happier times before the war.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tea

Chuck came into their quarters and tossed his jacket over a chair while Max padded over to his bed and flopped down with a grunt. There were no conscious thoughts in his head, his actions now were automatic and self-preserving.

Turn on the hot plate, fill the kettle….there was a brief dive for the sink for a thankfully dry heave. Okay, back on track. He reached for a mug with a shaking hand. Damn it.

Deep breath. The kettle was starting to bubble and Chuck opened the tiny cabinet that was their pretext of a kitchen. His head was pounding and the vision was kinda wonky in his right eye, but he didn’t need anything more than reflex to complete the task. His hand fell automatically on the jar that held the tea bags. _Bushells Blue Label_ , her favorite.

Waiting those last few minutes for the water to finish was killer. It took all of Chuck’s remaining strength to grip the sink edge and stay upright. Now his whole body was shaking not just his hands as he poured the water into the old, chipped standard issue RAAF mug.

Chuck’s stomach sent out a shooting pain that made him double over. When the world stopped spiraling he took his mug and shuffled to the nearest bunk- which just happened to be Dad’s. He didn’t care as he carefully sat despite protesting muscles and bones and huddled in a blanket.

He sipped his tea. He liked it ‘black’, no sweetener. That’s how she always drank it. When his stomach hurt she always made him tea. Whenever he felt poorly at all or had a bad day, she had made him tea and wrapped him in a blanket. Sometimes she would read to him.

The smell of it was comforting as he held the mug against his lips and closed his eyes against the memories. Chuck resisted letting the warmth in his hands pull him back, he had had enough of the past for one day.

The drift had been horrible, the fight even worse. They were only supposed to be back up…it wasn’t supposed to end with…like that…

But it was Dad’s memories that had been Chuck’s undoing. It was hard reliving other Jaeger losses in someone else’s mind while fighting for your life against the demon that had just created your first memory of the same.

The bile rose in his throat and he took a huge scalding mouth full of tea to chase it back down. Everything hurt so much right now, but he would make this ritual ground him. This was his anchor. This was all he had of her now.

The door opened, and he didn’t need to look up to know it was Herc. He had felt him approaching three hallways away. The kicking in his skull increased and Chuck closed his eyes against the rush and roar. He took deep measured breaths of the warm mist rising from his mug and concentrated on the calming smell.

Herc knew better than to say anything, words wouldn’t help- nothing would. Chuck would have to work through this on his own. As he passed the bunks he reached down and gently rested a hand on the top of his son’s head. Chuck looked up at his Father now and unbidden a tear slipped down his cheek. Damn it.

Dad brushed it away with his thumb and gave him a tired, sad smile before heading for the shower. He knew Chuck would pull through it, he had made tea. That was always a good sign. He would just let it work its magic. When Herc came back out of the bathroom twenty minutes later he found Chuck curled in the blankets of his bunk fast asleep. He gently removed the mug from his son’s limp fingers, to save it from the fate of some of its mates, and turned down the lights.

The ritual was complete and Chuck would sleep for hours; and if he was lucky he would dream of her.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Stayed in 'Verse this time. Also made myself a little sad...for reasons. I am in a dark mood anyway. So taking it out on Chuck seemed best. 
> 
> Next time I promise happiness and angsty teens in love and butterflies and unicorns .....literally. 
> 
> (But I am a tea-aholic. LOVE it.)


End file.
